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‘I recently quit my job and my apartment to live in the forest in a tent.’

As far as mission statements go, it’s a pretty good opening gambit.

In today’s economically uncertain times, it takes a brave person to write: ‘I have no apartment, I have no job and I have no income. Still, I’m exactly where I should be.’

These are the words of Thomas Backlund, who calls himself a ‘homeless entrepreneur’. He is a computer programmer from Sweden who has decided to build his internet start-up business from the woods.

While his unorthodox approach might shock those in Silicon Valley – which, despite its name, tends to house its tech whizzes indoors – perhaps there is nothing better than pitching your business idea immediately after pitching your tent.

Backlund ditched his job as a developer in Stockholm, handed back the keys to his flat and made his way into the beautiful countryside of the Södermanland province, where he has been for the past month.

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Last week, he wrote a post about his decision after winning an ‘email lottery’ on The Listserve, a site with 23,000 subscribers which picks one person at random every day and asks them to pen a mass missive.

In his email, Backlund, 33, wrote: ‘I’m a developer. I moved to a tent into the forest to be able to code on my start-up project full-time. Not only does that give me the time to do this but it also gives me peace of mind.

‘Maybe it would have been more rational to keep the apartment and just cut costs? Well, rational and right do not always align.’

The exposure on The Listserve has made Backlund something of a hero in tech circles and many working in the industry have reached out to him and offered their support.

His start-up project is Blockie.io, a platform which will allow web users who are not coders to create back-end website services with ease and without the need for coding.

‘Instead of programming, you build your service by combining blocks of functionality together,’ he told Metro from the sleeping bag in his tent. ‘It’s really easy, fun and saves you huge amounts of time.’

Time is something Backlund has found a lot of recently. Since cutting himself off from his job and his apartment, he has gone from staring at a computer screen in an office to staring at a computer screen with a fantastic view just behind it.

‘I needed to free up time so I could work on my start-up idea,’ he explained. ‘It felt right to minimise things in life to do this, getting rid of the apartment and job.

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‘I also think there is an underlying need for me to be in nature for some time. So the combination was perfect for me.’

Backlund spends most of his time coding on his laptop while sitting outside his tent. The device – and his mobile phone – are powered by two portable solar panels. He hasn’t given up on civilisation completely – he uses his car to drive to the nearest town to stock up on his food supply each week, which he then cooks on a portable stove.

He isn’t tempted to get into his car and drive back to Stockholm just yet, saying he doesn’t plan on returning to ‘a normal life’ until his business has taken off.

‘People I talk to in Sweden really like the idea but they say it’s too early to invest in it before there is something to show,’ he said.

‘It’s taking a leap – building something and expecting people to want it. But from the start I did this for myself, so I’ve got at least one user.’

The buzz generated by his post on The ListServe has led to a pile of emails from people who want to help him work on his business. He plans to recruit for his team, which so far features just him and a designer.

Backlund hasn’t been totally alone in the wilderness. A journalist visited him yesterday for an interview and a friend came to check on him after he came down with food poisoning just four days into his stay. A cousin he hasn’t seen in a while will call on him tomorrow.

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‘That’s a positive side-effect – I get back in touch with people thanks to this,’ he said.

It seems extreme to cut yourself off from the world just to get back in touch with those left behind in it, but Backlund believes his new surroundings have helped him concentrate on his business and appreciate the beauty around him. He swims in a nearby lake when the sun comes out.

He may be alone at the moment, but Backlund’s retreat has brought his start-up idea to the attention of the tech world. Some hackers have contacted him and are keen to do a forest hackathon.

However, he doesn’t consider himself a mastermind when it comes to drumming up support for his business.

‘I’m not sure I’m the right person to ask for advice,’ he said. ‘There are plenty of good books to read before actually doing any work. But otherwise you know within you what you have to do to start your journey.

‘If you want to do this kind of thing, it’s not the end of the world if it fails. You could always work your way back to society by squatting at friends and family for some time.’

So how long does he think it will take before he leaves the forest?

‘Hard to say, but when Swedish winter comes I can’t still be here. Maybe I’ll pick up one of the offerings I got by all the nice people on the internet. One guy, Daniel, told me: “You could live in my apartment in Shanghai for a few weeks, you mad homeless person”. That’s kind of warming.’